On Fri. Nov. 16, Arts Co-Op in downtown Martin hosted the opening night of the art exhibition “Falling Into Place,” comprised of the diverse works of five UTM art students. Arts Co-Op will continue to display the artists’ work until Fri. Nov. 30. The students whose works are being displayed are various fine arts majors: Cassie Frensley, Kristen Davis, Lollie Adams, Anthony Melton and Stephen Crosby.
Cassie Frensley works mainly with fiber art– crocheting, knitting, and the like. Crocheting is what she loves to do the most; She has been doing it since her sophomore year in high school– about six years.
“I’m really inspired by seasons, like Fall– by the trees and the colors associated [with the seasons]. I’m also inspired by animals, especially sea life. I love sea life. I think it’s fantastic,” said Frensley.
For instance, many of the works she has on display include a crocheted green sea turtle and a crocheted blue octopus.
Kristen Davis works with a wide variety of art– mixed media, drawings, sculptures and fibers– and, indeed, she has on display in the exhibition many different types of pieces, including scarfs, sketches and works of mixed textures/media.
However, Davis’s favorite types to do are drawings and particularly mixed media works. When asked how long she has been doing these types of art, Davis said that it had only been two to three years since she began; she discovered mixed media in college.
Her subjects also vary tremendously. She has many inspirations.
Davis said, “Things I see during the day, or hear, ideas that I have, just anything really.”
Lollie Adams, a photographer, has on display several photographs of nature. She also has featured in the show a few works made through the medium of printmaking. However, printmaking is a new medium for her– one of which she has only been experimenting with since last year– whereas photography is something that she has been doing since junior high.
Adams’s favorite subject is nature.
“It’s what affects me the most. It’s where I spend most of my time. It’s what I like to do… I’m always outside. I always have my camera with me,” Adams said.
Anthony Melton works with various mediums, including pencil, charcoal, paint and watercolor.
“When I was younger I drew from comic books; it was just easier for me…Or I would draw pictures of family members. I used to steal portraits off the wall, and my parents would just know they were in my room and that I was sketching them,” said Melton, when asked from where his inspiration came.
“I love to try to achieve photo realism,” Melton added.
For this show specifically, he chose to do a variety of art pieces with a number of different subjects, including a watercolor of the “Ghost Rider” and a black and grey self-portrait.
Stephen Crosby has on display various pieces of pottery, the only type of art he really enjoys doing. On exhibition he has several different uniquely-sculpted tea cups, saucers, sugar bowls and the like– most of which are made up of blues, greens and whites.
One thing that Crosby illuminated about this type of art is that it is useful for “developing connections with people,” as when people are sitting down together using the pottery.
Crosby stated that the designs of his pottery remind many people of the layers of roses; however, his designs stem from the wrapping of a cloth around the cups and other pieces, which is represented by the ripples in the sides of the pottery.
Crosby has been working with this type of art for three years and plans to stay an extra year to become certified to teach, as well as to develop a graduate portfolio.
Many of Crosby’s pieces will be on sale at the show, which will run until Nov. 30.
